


I played my part, kept you in the dark

by CorgiOnARollerCoaster



Category: Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Crack, Gen, Please don’t take this seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorgiOnARollerCoaster/pseuds/CorgiOnARollerCoaster
Summary: The team discusses the secretive habits of their leader.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	I played my part, kept you in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> This story is hosted on Archive of Our Own, where you can read it for free. If you find this story anywhere else, it was posted without the consent of the author.

“I don’t get it,” Kon said out of the blue. Bart took his pawn. Cassie, Cissie and Greta looked up from whatever they were gossiping about. Their leader was conspicuously absent, citing something about Gotham and being needed and whatnot. 

“Get what? Checkmate.” Bart won again, then disappeared, probably to the kitchen for more snacks. They’ll have to go grocery shopping later. 

“Why won’t Robin tell us his secret identity? We all know each other’s, and he knows ours. It isn’t fair.”

“I don’t think the word “fair” exists when you’re a sidekick to the Bat,” Cissie rolled her eyes. 

“The Titans know Nightwing’s identity,” Cassie pointed out, “Donna says she hangs out with Nightwing out of the costume all the time.”

“It’s just Robin, then.” Kon frowned. “Do you think he has something to hide?”

“What are you getting at?” Greta replied, tone a tad too defensive.

“I mean, there must be a reason he keeps the mask on 24/7, even at the pool. Heck, he even came prepared for our camping trip with a back-up mask.”

“Kon,” Cissie gave him a stern look, “are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?”

“I don’t like it either,” Kon raised his hands in a ‘surrender’ position. “But it’s pretty obvious why the Boy Wonder is so secretive.”

“It ain’t our business,” Cassie said diplomatically, “but yeah, I’m curious too.”

“Spit it out, Kon,” Greta snapped.

Kon eyed Greta, slightly unnerved by her strangely accusatory tone but relented, “He wears the mask to cover up his terminal zits.”

The girls stared at him for a moment before bursting into raucous laughter. Kon blinked, not understanding their reaction at all. “What?”

“Oh my gosh,” Cissie was struggling to breathe, “you think Robin hides his identity from us because of some bad acne?” Cassie was crying, and Greta’s giggles had doubled.

“Well, it _sounds_ weird when you say it out loud, but why else would he keep wearing the mask? He doesn’t need to tell us his name if it’s really that important. What did you think I was gonna say?”

Cissie sobered up, looking serious. “He might be a criminal trying to atone for his sins.” 

This time, it was Kon’s turn to laugh. Cassie and Greta just gasped.

Greta looked heartbroken, “No, Robin’s good! He can’t be bad!”

Cissie shrugged, feeling uneasy about thinking bad things about the team’s leader. “Hey, I don’t think he’s a bad person _now_ , but we don’t know anything about his past. For all we know, he could have...run over a kitten and decided to make up for it by dressing up as a bird to fight crime.”

Kon was still laughing, so Cassie grabbed a pillow and smacked his arm. “Quit it, Kon, this isn’t funny.”

“You think Rob of all people has a villainous past? That guy’s such a stickler for the rules. In a car chase, he’d probably go at the speed limit and stop at the red lights and use his turn signals.”

“I mean,” Cassie shot a worried look at Greta, who had become a bit withdrawn, “if he was a criminal, then his face would have been on the news, right? So he wears the mask so he won’t be judged for his past, and he can have a second chance.”

  
“Do you really think _Batman_ of all superheroes would allow a criminal to operate in _his_ city? Even _Superman_ needs the A-OK to visit.”

  
“Superman’s a _meta_. Robin’s human.”

“You’re sure about that?”

Cissie butted in before they could go on a long tangent. “It was just a thought, I wasn’t really serious about it,” she shrugged again and looked apologetically at Greta. 

“I still think he has terminal zits.”

“Of course, Kon,” Greta rolled her eyes, “he has terminal zits all conveniently located around his eyes so they would be covered by his domino.”

“Yup.” The girls groaned. 

“You can’t be serious,” Cassie said disbelievingly. 

“Well, what’s your theory, Girl Wonder?”

She blushed, and Kon raised his eyebrows. “It’s super dumb,” she protested. 

“You laughed at my theory, it’s only fair I laugh at yours.”

Cassie groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I think he’s Nightwing’s secret love child that he’s trying to hide from his ex-fiancée!”

Kon snorted. “And Lex Luthor’s my daddy. Starfire’s hella hot though.”

“Does Nightwing think Starfire will get mad at him for having a son?” Greta piped up, “I thought she loved kids.”

“We’re moving into soap opera territory,” Cissie giggled. “Nightwing can’t be _that_ old.”

“Didn’t he show up for Robin when Reddy arranged that parent conference?” Greta asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. 

The others remained silent for a moment. 

“Holy heck,” Cassie muttered, mind blown.

“Nightwing looks pretty good for a dad,” Cissie mumbled under her breath. 

“Stop thirsting for your friend’s dad,” Greta whispered to her, “it’s weird.”

“I still believe in the terminal zits.”

“Wanna put your money where your mouth is?” Cassie challenged. “Ten bucks.”

“You’re on.”

Bart chose this moment to come back, carrying a large stuffed unicorn. “Guys, there’s a carnival downtown with the most delicious corn dogs I’ve ever tasted in my life. They also make these fried pickles that they stuff with spicy cheetos and drench in ketchup and I ate twenty of them. Oh, and I just took down some Kobra operatives who were were trying to resurrect Abraham Lincoln.”

“Bart!” Kon slung his arm around the speedster, “what do you think Robin’s face looks like?”

Cissie yelled out, “Do you think Robin could have a criminal past?”

“Do you think Nightwing’s his daddy?”

“Do you think he’s a clone of Batman?” Everyone turned to look at Greta, who simply shrugged. “Just putting my theory in the pool.”

Bart scrunched his face, deep in thought. “I think he’s just a regular human who just wants to help people and the reason he can’t reveal his identity is because Batman’s his dad and Batman doesn’t trust us with his secrets so he forbade Robin to tell us anything.”

“No way!”

“That _can’t_ be it.”

“That’s plain ridiculous.”

“I thought Batman was a vampire?”

* ***** *

When he returns to Mount Justice, Robin is confused when Kon hands him some cucumber-based face masks. His confusion doubles when Cassie asks him if Nightwing’s given him “The Talk” (he’s not ashamed to say he ran away), and triples when both Greta and Cissie pull him aside separately to tell him that they love him, no matter what. 

“Hey Bart?”

“Yeah Rob?”

“What happened yesterday?”

“Oh, we were just talking about your parents.”

“...Why?”

“Well, the team thinks you’re a clone of Batman created by Nightwing as a wedding gift for Starfire but then you turned evil and killed a bunch of people and now you’re trying to atone for your sins by fighting crime while dressed up as a bird. Also, you have terminal zits.”

“ **What**.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by that time in YJ when Tim (finally) takes off his mask and it turns out Cassie and Kon made a bet on whether Tim had terminal zits or not. Also Bart accidentally discovers Tim’s real name through ironically bad lip reading :p
> 
> Title’s from Shape of My Heart by Backstreet Boys (it has 0 relevance to the fic but it’s a nice song)


End file.
